New on Sports Illustrated: Louisville, BC finally have a game date

A moving target on the schedule appears to finally be settled as the Boston College Eagles host the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday afternoon at Chestnut Hill, Mass.

The Atlantic Coast Conference matchup had originally been set to be played Friday before being pushed back to Dec. 12 as part of schedule changes brought on by an outbreak of COVID-19 on the Miami Hurricanes. Needing to shake things up yet again after Clemson-Florida State was postponed over the weekend, the Eagles-Cardinals game moved back up to Saturday, marking the second-to-last contest of the season for each team.

Boston College (5-4, 4-4 ACC) takes the field for the first time since a 45-31 loss to No. 2 Notre Dame on Nov. 14. Louisville (3-6, 2-6) enters off a 30-0 blowout victory over Syracuse last Friday.

Louisville holds a 7-5 edge in the all-time series, though Boston College has won two of the last three meetings, including at Chestnut Hill in 2018.

This time, the Cardinals come in with serious momentum after dominating Syracuse in their most complete effort of the season. The defense held the Orange to 137 total yards, and quarterback Malik Cunningham did his part to put the game away with one touchdown apiece on the ground and in the air.

Cunningham did throw two interceptions, increasing his season total to 11. Six have come in his last three games.

Louisville is preparing to welcome back tight end Marshon Ford (272 yards, five touchdowns) from an undisclosed injury Saturday before getting three weeks off prior to its season finale Dec. 19 against Wake Forest.

"It is certainly not ideal to have a three-week layoff," said coach Scott Satterfield. "I don't really fully understand how and why we got to this point, but obviously I had no control over that, so it is what it is. We will make the most out of it."

Boston College's season is set to end on a more typical note at Virginia on Dec. 5. The team will have had two weeks off since its loss to the Fighting Irish but can take solace in the fact it hasn't dropped two games in a row all season.

"The sign of a great team is you lose a game and, just like we have all year, you fix it and you go out and you win a game," said coach Jeff Hafley. "We need to do that."

Against the Fighting Irish, the Eagles forced three turnovers, increasing their total on the season to 17, which is behind only UCF (19) among FBS teams.

--Field Level Media